The 2013 season proved quite successful for Cleveland as the team completed a 24-win turnaround and made the playoffs with a 92-70 record.

As a part of recapping the year that was, IBI is once again giving out some year-end awards. Unlike last year, we will be focusing only on Cleveland-centric awards. Today we unveil IBI's Least Valuable Pitcher:

For a while it looked like Perez was going to run away with this. As more votes rolled in, however, Myers ended up with the not-so-envious crown.

Myers was my pick as I ended up ranking him the least valuable player in my end of the season ranks. That is what a 8.02 ERA, 8.72 FIP, and 10 home runs in 21.1 innings will get you.

I also added Scott Barnes to my votes as his struggles with the big league club were part of the left-handed relief problems that plagued the team until Marc Rzepczynski was acquired. Bauer, Pestano, and Hagadone rounded out my votes, as all three were supposed to play significant roles this year but performed poorly in the majors and were demoted to Triple-A.

Here's what the rest of IBI thinks:

Tony Lastoria:

1. Brett Myers

2. Rich Hill

3. Carlos Carrasco

4. Nick Hagadone

5. Chris Perez

How Rich Hill managed to remain on the roster all season with a 6.28 ERA and 1.73 WHIP is beyond me, but he did and the Indians managed to survive his inconsistency all season. Carlos Carrasco struggled in his first full season back from Tommy John but may have found a home in the bullpen late in the season. Nick Hagadone blew a golden opportunity to nail down a lefty role in the pen and is probably a major reason why Hill lasted all year. Chris Perez got his saves, but they were often never easy and he blew some key games over the course of the season and had some off the field distractions as well.

But the landslide winner (loser) here is Brett Myers. What a colossal waste of $7 million he was this season. He came into spring training and pitched poorly. He came into the regular season and pitched poorly and lasted just four outings before going on the DL with an arm injury and was never seen again. The Indians eventually released him and from the sounds of it no one was sad to see him go as he was the biggest and maybe only malcontent in the locker room this season. Thankfully he was only signed to a one-year deal and the Indians can just wipe their hands clean on this mistake and move on.

Jim Pete:

1. Chris Perez

2. Rich Hill

3. Vinnie Pestano

4. Nick Hagadone

5. Carlos Carrasco

I really wanted to pick Trevor Bauer and Carlos Carrasco here, and I really wanted to avoid Chris Perez. I hate picking relievers for anything because of their limited effect on games based on limited time in games, but at the end of the day, he was the complete package of futility. Those that will argue save rate need to step back. Perez was garbage as a reliever and in every way. He didn't perform on the field. He was a distraction off the field. He saw his velocity dip. He refused to talk to the media. In other words...garbage.

Steve Orbanek:

1. Trevor Bauer

2. Brett Myers

3. Carlos Carrasco

4. Vinnie Pestano

5. Chris Perez

Bauer gets the nod here simply because of the high expectations heading into the year. Many expected him to cement himself as the team’s ace at one point or another, but the right-hander struggled in four starts and posted a 5.29 ERA. He was at his worst on June 28 when he allowed five earned runs in 2/3 of an inning against the Chicago White Sox. Can Bauer figure it out? We can only hope, but it’s hard to be encouraged by his numbers at the Triple-A level this year. His BB/9 rate of 5.4 was a career-high, and his K/9 rate of 7.8 was a career low. Translation: Bauer is now a project of Ubaldo Jimenez-like proportions.

Michael Hattery:

1. Chris Perez

2. Brett Myers

3. Vinnie Pestano

4. Trevor Bauer

5. Nick Hagadone

The race for least valuable pitcher was really a two horse race with Chris Perez and Brett Myers being the heavy favorites. While this may coincide with the award for two largest pricks on the Indians roster, it is indeed for least valuable pitcher. Of course selecting one becomes challenging because both were of the utmost importance to this team entering the season. While starters are more scarce and in many cases important because of the innings they log, Perez’s ineptitude was impressive. I am sure some would offer up his mediocre save percentage but in all honesty that is a ridiculous and irrelevant statistic. Quite simply, he was an incredibly inept reliever posting a 5.08 FIP, which for most would mean losing their jobs. What is truly incredible, is how statistically lucky Perez was to have an ERA sub 4.50.

Stephanie Metzger:

1. Chris Perez

2. Rich Hill

3. Nick Hagadone

4. Vinnie Pestano

5. Trevor Bauer

To be fair, I still don’t think Chris Perez is as awful as many others seem to. I think his issues off the field led to some mental barriers he couldn’t overcome. I also think his career is still in good shape, and that he’ll find success with a new team elsewhere. That said, Perez blew some important games and let the team down too many times to be considered a valuable asset. It’s easy to claim that a team shouldn’t pay $7.3 million for a closer, and that claim is even more relevant when he can’t do his job. The fall from 40 saves to 25 was a costly one.

Jeff Ellis:

1. Brett Myers

2. Vinnie Pestano

3. Chris Perez

4. Trevor Bauer

5. Rich Hill

This was the easiest award as there was a clear winner. Hill was a mediocre lefty who seemed on the verge of losing his job all year. Bauer was expected to have a shot at making the team out of spring training and failed to be September call up. Perez had one great month and then the rest of his season was so bad he will likely be let go. Pestano was the top reliever on this team heading into the year and he failed to even have one good month. Myers was a signing I thought was smart. He had a history of going from the pen to the rotation. Instead he was horribly ineffective, and then he got hurt and never pitched beyond the first month of the year. Myers was the biggest bust this team had all year.

Jake Dungan:

1. Chris Perez

2. Brett Myers

3. Rich Hill

4. Vinnie Pestano

5. Nick Hagadone

It’s no secret that Cleveland fans are ready to run the former All-Star closer out of town. Unfortunately for him, there isn’t much his 2013 season stats can do to dissuade their efforts. In addition to his off-the-field legal issues, his departure from social media and vow of silence toward reporters, Perez posted career-highs in ERA, blown saves, home runs allowed and opposing batting average. With him up for arbitration and set to make somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 million, he appears to be a definite non-tender candidate this offseason.

Nathan Kemp:

1. Brett Myers

2. Rich Hill

3. Vinnie Pestano

4. Nick Hagadone

5. Trevor Bauer

Myers wins by default because he makes $7.5 million this season and hasn't produced a single win. I am still okay with the Indians taking flyers on guys like Myers until their minor league starting depth progresses but this signing was a big miss. If Myers made the veteran minimum, he wouldn't be on this list.

Arthur Kinney:

1. Brett Myers

2. Daisuke Matsuzaka

3. David Huff

4. Vinnie Pestano

5. Chris Perez

Myers gets the top (bottom?) spot here as Matsuzaka at least gave the Columbus Clippers some good outings. Huff just seemed in hurry to go anywhere that wasn't Progressive Field or Huntington Park. The back end of the Bullpen Mafia fell apart this year. Perez provided a little more production than Pestano, although his off-the-field antics served to be enough of a distraction to the team that it somewhat negates said production.

Charlie Adams:

1. Chris Perez

2. Rich Hill

3. Brett Myers

4. Trevor Bauer

5. Carlos Carrasco

Perez has converted on an average level of save opportunities, but has done it in spite of bad peripherals. This list is more nit-picking, as the Indians have had good pitching throughout the season. LOOGY's have been crap all season until we found Scrabble.

Michael Goodman:

1. Chris Perez

2. Vinnie Pestano

3. Rich Hill

4. Nick Hagadone

5. Brett Myers

Chris Perez’s WAR in 2013? -0.9. While Perez bottomed out in September, he truthfully only had two good months on the entire year. Pestano’s struggles really hurt the pen in the middle of the season. If he doesn’t turn it around, I think the Indians are going to miss his presence next year too with Perez likely being let go and Joe Smith a free agent. This was the year he could have cemented himself as the Indians closer, but instead he’ll be fighting for a roster spot. There’s not much to say about Rich Hill. Somehow he lasted the whole year, but thankfully was limited to only 38.2 innings. This year was a good opportunity for Hagadone to cement himself as a lefty in the pen, but he couldn’t get the job done. He was inconsistent throughout the year and like Pestano will be fighting for a job next spring. Brett Myers is here by default. That’s a good thing, as there wasn’t anyone else who deserved to be on this list.

If you want to follow Jim on Twitter, he’s@JimPiascik. If you want to e-mail him, you can do so at jpiasci1@gmail.com. If you want to read his Master's thesis on college athletes and Twitter, you can do so here.

User Comments

Jack

October 18, 2013 - 6:30 PM EDT

Brett Myers? The Least Valuable Pitcher? That's absolutely absurd. So, you pick Myers because he's worth what, $7 million and only made four starts for the Tribe this year? Oh wait, I get it. He cost $7 million, only made four starts, so he was the least valuable based on cost. Add that the Indians had high expectations for their $7mil man, so because he sucked for four games, he's the least value based player.

Oh, and love the Moron that used statistics FOR FOUR GAMES! Let me guess, you'll just expand them for an 162 game season, like some idiots do at the beginning of the season after some dope hits a home run in game 1 and 2 of the season. Yeah, that's when ESPN will roll the 162 homer projections.

So simplistic in thinking.

Of course, by that same sophomoric thinking, the MOST valuable player would be whoever was most cost effective, and had no expectations, and preferably, played in about five games.

So your MVP should be Matt Carson then, right?

He had at bats in seven or eight games. His slash line was .636/.692/.909. His BABIP was .667. His wOBA was an unheard of .680, and his wRC+ was 352. His WAR in 20 games (mostly as a defender) was .5. Man, that projects to a four WAR player by the end of the year, and shoot, if he'd have played more offense, it would probably double at least.

A POTENTIAL 8 WAR PLAYER!!!! Mike Trout light, and for what, league minimum? MOST VALUE-able player.

Did they pick Kubel as the least valuable hitter, FOR PLAYING IN EIGHT GAMES? Maybe Kelly Shoppach or Cord Phelps?

Tony

October 18, 2013 - 6:29 PM EDT

It should be based on expectations and resulting performance. Had Kazmir came in after signing a minor league deal and done what Myers did....then he wouldn't be the least valuable pitcher because he had no value to begin with. But when you sign Myers for $7M and also say he is expected to anchor the rotation and be the #3 starter and haul 170-200 innings....that is where expectations come in. He was supposed to help and eat innings this year as a bridge to some other arms. Based on that, he was a guy that didn't come close to living up to those expectations. And hence, at least to me, was least valuable.

DavidR

October 18, 2013 - 6:14 PM EDT

Is there any reason at this point not to try and turn Barnes back into a starter where he had some success before being moved to the pen (I could never find a full explanation of why that happened)? The weight of evidence suggests it is unlikely he can be relied upon in relief.

Rich

October 18, 2013 - 5:55 PM EDT

If Myers had been signed to a minor league deal, made the team out of camp and then got lit up in 20 innings of April pitching before being released, would he be considered the least valuable pitcher?

Or is it the money he got and the expectations he didn't live up to that make him the least valuable?

Are we talking about the worst pitcher in terms of performance or the worst pitcher relative to level of compensation and expected performance?

Brandon

October 18, 2013 - 2:35 PM EDT

Perez is wayyyyy to high on this list. Walter hit the nail on the head, if not Perez then who? Say we put Allen back there, we would then be replacing him with Guilmet, Langwell, and other fringe major leaguers. Perez imploded at a few points in the season, but let's not forget, he was dominant at times too. 25/30 saves isn't great, but it's not terrible either. Pestano struggled just as much as Perez, the only difference is that Perez had to deal with his struggles and he still put together an average season in the majors. Pestano on the other hand was able to return to AAA to figure things out.

Perez has been by far the best closer for the tribe since Mesa, let's not let a few bad stretches define his career. I'd take Perez's 25/30 and 4.33 ERA over Borowski's 45/53 and 5.07 ERA in a heartbeat.

Tony

October 18, 2013 - 9:42 AM EDT

Rich, injuries absolutely have to be a part of it. Simply put, Myers was signed to eat innings and be the Indians #3 starter. He failed to fill both roles....and oh yeah, $7 million was flushed down the toilet. His value going into the season was as a mid-rotation starter and he failed to fill the role - whether because of injury - and that's a pretty strong case for least valuable if you ask me.

Rich

October 18, 2013 - 9:33 AM EDT

Great discussion. I don't even count Myers as having pitched for the Indians this year. He was hurt in spring training and still hurt when he tried to pitch in April. I wouldn't punish a guy for being injured. Should we put Tomlin on this list? He was out most of the year with an injury and ended up pitching only a few innings, just like Myers.

So that leaves Perez, but as Tony says, he did have some value. As Hermie pointed out, he was 15 for 17 in saves prior to August, and even in Aug and Sep the Indians won 18 of the 21 games he pitched in. So how bad did he hurt the team, exactly? As I recall he turned a few three-run wins into one-run wins.

That leaves Pestano, but he was hurt early in the year and never seemed to recover. His velocity never came back, from what I remember. Another injury case.

Rich Hill stranded 51 of 63 inherited runners. That definitely has some value. Francona often brought him in with runners on and a dangerous lefty at the plate (high leverage situation), and Hill consistently got them out of the inning unscathed. He got lit up a few times which made his overall numbers look bad, but he was a contributor and Francona used him during the September playoff drive.

I guess it comes down to Carrasco or Bauer for me - two young pitchers with healthy, live arms who were expected to win starting jobs. Both of them were abysmal, with the exception of Carrasco salvaging a little value at the end as a reliever.

So my vote goes to Bauer. He was healthy, talented, 23 years old, and absolutely useless.

Tony

October 17, 2013 - 2:35 PM EDT

Walter, that's a very good point and one I actually did not even consider even though I did have Perez 5th on my list. The thing is, is we never got to see any other closer this year. Sure, we saw Pestano for a short bit when Perez was out.....but when Perez was removed from the job at the tail end another closing opportunity never arose. I think there is definite value in that while his numbers were not that great that he did provide value in closing out games. If he didn't close out games, who else would have done it? Would they have had as much success? Would the bullpen have been weaker as now instead of Shaw or Allen in the 7th inning and one of them closing now you have might have Albers in a more pressing role....it is a domino effect. So for as much as I dislike Perez because of his antics and poor numbers, the results as a closer were still there and he ultimately did provide value to the team. It's sort of like Jason Giambi. The numbers were awful.....but his contributions in games go beyond the raw stats and advanced metrics because of several key at bats late in games.

Hermie13

October 17, 2013 - 2:33 PM EDT

I don't think Perez is as eager to be non-tendered as you think he is...

He may get $10M if he isn't non-tendered.....if he is non-tendered (most likely outcome)...he is looking at free agency...where Joe Nathan, Grant Balfour, Brian Wilson, Joaquin Benoit, Edward Mujica, and Fernando Rodney will all be joining him on the open market...all better closers. Perez will be lucky to find a closers job anywhere and would be lucky to get $3M on the open market.

Sure the fans may have turned on him...but I don't know anyone that would be too thrilled with potentially losing $7M (or more)....

Walter

October 17, 2013 - 2:22 PM EDT

I am surprised everyone has perez either 1 or 2 least effective pitcher. He did have 25 saves this year. My question is would the Indians have been 92-70 without him? I don't think so.. I understand his stuff this year was in decline and that he gave everybody heart attack when he was pitching the 9th.

I think Indians fans should be use to this type of closer. Remember Doug Jones, Bob Wickman and Joe Borowski.

I believe many are judging more than his numbers. Cleveland fans will not forgive his commits regarding fans showing up to support to the loser Browns and not the Indians. AT that time the Indians were in 1st place back in 2011 when he blasted the fans regarding lack of support..

I do agree that his effectiveness has declined and the Indians should non tender him. I bet perez is hoping that the Indians non tender him so he could get out of Cleveland.

With the potential of Indians non tendering perez who should the Indians pursue to become new closer. BY FA, trade or internally?

Jim

October 17, 2013 - 1:58 PM EDT

They were both shit. U can argue degree all u want, but like I said, it all depends on what weight u put on what.

Tony

October 17, 2013 - 1:22 PM EDT

Also, I don't profess to be a sabr guru, but the variance in WAR for a reliever (Perez) is much different than for a starting pitcher (Myers). If I am not mistaken, an average starting pitcher is worth 2 WAR while an EXCELLENT reliever is worth 2 WAR. So while both may have a -.7 or -.9 WAR, unless I am off, the Indians only technically missed out on about 1.5 wins if Perez was average while they missed out on 3 wins if Myers was average.

James

October 17, 2013 - 1:20 PM EDT

The Perez hate is too strong on this site. First of all, Jim Pete, Perez gets crap for talking to the media and then gets crap for not? C'mon. Be real. Second, Perez had a solid season with a couple of important blow ups at the end. He wasn't god awful and he wasn't useless. Third, to you sabermetricians, any stat that says Rich Hill or Brett Myers was more valuable to the Indians this year than Chris Perez is a BS stat. Should the Indians pay Perez $10mil? God no. But was he the worst thing that ever happened to the Indians? Not even close. He was a middle of the road contributor to the Indians this year.

Tony

October 17, 2013 - 12:43 PM EDT

Bottom line, regardless of whether Myers was paid two dollars or $7 million, he was signed to log 170-200 innings for the Indians and be their third starter. He was signed to haul innings. A middle of the rotation starter is more valuable than a closer, and at the end of the day when that player fails to live up to that expectation - whether the Indians were foolish in believing that or not - that to me says enough.

Hermie13

October 17, 2013 - 12:43 PM EDT

For the record I wasn't using rWAR as an argument for Myers being less valuable than Perez. I only brought it up because you brought up fWAR. I don't believe either really applies to relievers or small samples (ie, Myers). Just don't think you can point to fWAR and say Perez was the worst...but then ignore rWAR.

Myers did pitch hurt...but then again so did Perez for a bit.

I agree that the closer's role is overrated, and I agree that you should put your best relievers in the highest leverage situations. What I don't agree with, is that the 9th inning is always (or even usually) the highest leverage situation in a game. You come in with no one on base and a lead....

Compare that to a guy coming in with bases loaded clinging to a 1 run lead in the 7th. What's more high leverage? 7th inning hands down. The only "high leverage" issue with being a closer is having the mentality to pitch there. And while Perez is not a good reliever, up until the last week or so he seemed to have that mentality.

Jim Piascik

October 17, 2013 - 12:31 PM EDT

I typically look at value as something directly related to playing time. Someone who pitches 50 innings has more value than someone who 20 innings if the performances are the same.

In that way, Myers and Perez both struggled, but at least Perez logged more innings. Even if they are slightly below replacement level, those innings are still there. Otherwise, another pitcher (who will likely be replacement level or worse considering they are not already on the roster) would have had to fill in those innings.

Myers' injury was unfortunate and I hate to see players essentially lose a year. Plus, the poor early season performance likely tied into the injury.

But the way I look at it, the lack of innings is something that really hurts value. While it worked out thanks to pitchers like Corey Kluber surprising when they were called up, Myers not logging innings required Cleveland to call someone up from Triple-A. Considering the state of the rotation at the beginning of the year -- when it was viewed as a shortcoming without much depth -- that easily could have torpedoed the season.

Jake D.

October 17, 2013 - 12:14 PM EDT

I can understand both the arguments for Perez and Myers. In addition to the $7 million he was paid, he was also given a spot in the middle of the rotation the day he signed and expected to be an innings-eater, so obviously expectations were high and he couldn't deliver.

Perez, on the other hand, had issues that went beyond his struggles on the mound. While he was somewhat solid until his August/September collapse, his off-the-field issues were more of an unwanted distraction that, to me, outweighed whatever positive contribution he provided this season.

I don't fault Tito or his teammates for continuing to support him all season because they'd do the same for anyone else in a Tribe uniform. And for the most part, it was a working formula.

Michael

October 17, 2013 - 12:10 PM EDT

I considered each of their fWAR and you can't project them out because Myers logging innings while injured. I am a Francona advocate but first of all the role of closer is irrational. You should use your best relievers in high leverage situation. Cumulatively, Perez was outside of possibly Pestano their worst reliever being used in high leverage situations. rWAR is unusable in this situation far too limited sample for every single pitcher. Smith, Shaw and Allen would have been much better as a back end.

We are just punishing Myers because he disappointed based on his contract mostly due to injury rather than discussing who over the course had the worst impact. Perhaps we are discussing two different questions.

Hermie13

October 17, 2013 - 11:57 AM EDT

I don't think you can really blame Francona for sticking with Perez in the closer's role. Pestano failed there, Allen was a rookie....Smith or Shaw maybe, but wasn't like he had a great option to turn to. Could have moved Smith to the 9th but then you have Perez in the 8th? or 7th? Doesn't really make the club better IMO.

As far as Myers...you brought up Perez's -0.9 fWAR...well, Myers was at -0.7...in only 21 innings. Also, Perez's rWAR was -0.3....Myers was -0.6 (Hill was at -1.2 by the way). Not saying use one or the other (or either) but some fruit for thought.

Michael

October 17, 2013 - 11:34 AM EDT

Another really interesting question about how people discuss value, a collection of people I respect. However, I don't believe we can use the sunk cost argument in Myers to establish that he was the least valuable. In fact, Perez was paid 7.3 Million and provided less value, actually having a damaging effect on the Tribe. Perez was supposed to anchor the bullpen and he failed to do so. In fact, they had to overcome his affect.

Regardless of your beliefs surrounding the closer position, Perez was without a doubt the worst reliever on the roster for the full season. (having a larger negative impact than Rich Hill, mostly because of opportunity).
Perez had a -.9 WAR worst on the roster.

I can't blame Perez for this entirely as it was Francona's fault for continually relying on a substandard arm.
For some context of pitchers with 50 innings pitched Perez had the seventeenth worst FIP in MLB.
A few people with better FIPS: Phil Humber (won't find big league job next season) Abysmal Sox Starter John Danks.

Perez wasn't just the least valuable pitcher because of his negative impact on the team, he was one of the worst backend pitchers in baseball.
Furthermore, while Myers had no value because he was unable to remain healthy. Perez had an adverse effect on the Indians ability to win games.
Just because we do not like Myers contract does not mean he had more adverse affect than a player called on to close, who was poor for most of the season.
I won't just give an lvp because somebody got hurt. (even though we project poor performance).

Hermie13

October 17, 2013 - 11:24 AM EDT

1. Myers
2. Pestano
3. Carrasco
4. Hill
5. Perez

Agree with a few of the writers...Myers is the easy "winner" here. Only good thing that could maybe be said about him was he did save the bullpen in his 2nd appearance by going 5.1 inning out of the pen. Granted he gave up 11 hits, 3 HRs, and 7 runs in those innings (amazingly his ERA dropped after that appearance). Pitched in only 4 games, threw only 21 innings...Tribe lost all 4 games. Just an absolute waste of space.

Pestano for me is an easy #2. I know he was injured but man did we need him to step up when Perez went down. 1.64 WHIP and just nothing down the stretch from him. Really hope it was all an injury but Francona never seemed to trust him from the start. Only came in with a runner on base once all year (and allowed both guys to score). So used to seeing Pestano get out of jams but the only ones he got out of this year were ones he created himself (and wasn't good at that even).

#3 for me would be Carrasco. Do think it's a bit unfair to be so hard on a guy coming back from TJ but expected a bit more than what we got. Also hurt the team with that second suspension. Did improve once moved to the pen...but we have a number of RH relief options, we could have used another starter.

Hill's numbers are just ugly. WHIP of 1.73? Is pretty amazing he lasted the whole year. The one silver lining though with Hill (and think it's a big reason he stuck around)...only 19% of inherited runners scored against Hill. That was one of the better marks in all of baseball (only Hagadone was better for Cleveland). For reference, 37% of inherited runners scored on Cody Allen this year. Only 12 of 63 inherited runners scored off Hill this year! That's just amazing with how bad he pitched. 8th best mark in the AL this year. That said...it doesn't make up for what he did otherwise.

And finally, Chris Perez.. Yes he was injured and yes he was pretty solid til August (1.16 WHIP, .685 OPS, 15 saves, 2 blown)...but that finish was just brutal. It didn't cost us a playoff spot but may have cost us the division. Numbers from August 1st on....1.87 WHIP, 1.084 OPS against, 7 HRs, 3 Blown saves. Only thing that kept him down here at 3 for me is that in the 21 games he pitched in August and September...somehow the Tribe went 18-3 in those games. Numbers don't look quite as bad if you take out the last two appearances, but WHIP was still 1.47 and two tough losses (Detroit and Mets). Never been a fan and never thought he was all that valuable but this year really bottomed out.

Left off Bauer as personally didn't think he was big league ready when we got him. Wanted him to spend time in AAA. Sure expected him to be better and thought he'd give us something in the 2nd half but don't think he belongs on a least valuable list. Same with Hagadone. I expected more...but he was better than Hill...for some reason though, the Tribe felt they were better off with Hill. Hags only allowed 17.6% of inherited runners to score (6 of 34)...5th best in the AL. Had he just been given a job and kept there, I think we are talking about him in a whole lot differently.

Tony

October 17, 2013 - 9:08 AM EDT

I'm surprised how many people put Perez so high. When I initially considered this vote, I will admit he was higher on my list. But I tried to remove the disappointment from his last two outings from my thinking. And really, of the 50+ appearances or whatever he had, he was pretty "valuable" in a great many of them....so it was hard for me to pick him though he was still certainly in consideration. At the end of the day, when it comes to value, Myers was supposed to anchor the middle of the rotation and didn't came anywhere close to doing that. He was paid $7 million which they might as well have just put in a trash can and set on fire to put to better use. And he was a problem behind the scenes causing trouble - actually more so than Perez if you ask me.